The present disclosure relates to computer processors, and more specifically, to using a decrementer interrupt to start long-running hardware operations before the end of a shared processor dispatch cycle.
Shared processors may be time-sliced to allow multiple partitions to run periodically. Such sharing may be referred to as “micro-partitioning.” Whenever a partition is dispatched to a physical processor, that partition may execute for a set amount of time (referred to as a “dispatch cycle”). Different hardware operations may need to be completed between dispatch cycles. While these hardware operations execute, the shared processor (and other system resources) are not used by partitions, meaning system resources go unused by the logical partitions during the hardware operations.